When New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the formation of a new band of gun crackdown police units, known as Neighborhood Safety Teams, earlier this year, he vowed that they would consist only of upstanding officers.
Addressing concerns that the new teams would replicate the misconduct of their predecessors — the plainclothes anti-crime units, which accounted for around three in 10 NYPD killings between 2000 and 2018 despite making up roughly 6 percent of the force — Adams promised that the city would be in a “constant state of monitoring” to ensure that the units would contribute to public safety without “the abuses that we witnessed in the past.” One reporter quoted him as guaranteeing that Neighborhood Safety Team officers would have “squeaky clean” records.
The NYPD and the mayor’s office have refused to release a roster of those assigned to the teams, forcing the public to take officials’ word that they’re composed only of reputable cops. But in May, New York Focus found a workaround: identifying which officers have undergone Neighborhood Safety Team training.
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